Spain’s Golden Visa is closed. The investor residency program created by Law 14/2013 ended on April 3, 2025, when Organic Law 1/2025 repealed the entire framework, and no new applications can be filed under any of its investment routes. If you already hold the visa, or if you got your paperwork in before the April cutoff, your residency and your renewal rights survive under the original rules.
What Ended on April 3, 2025
Organic Law 1/2025 was published on January 3, 2025 and took effect three months later. It voided Articles 63 through 67 of Law 14/2013, the provisions that defined qualifying investments, set the application procedures, and established the rights of investor visa holders. Because Article 63 covered every investment category, the closure is total: real estate, company shares, investment funds, bank deposits, government bonds, and business projects of general interest are all gone as pathways to Spanish residency.
The decision followed years of political debate over whether investor residency schemes mostly benefited wealthy foreign buyers while pushing up housing costs for residents. Several other European countries had already scaled back or eliminated similar programs under pressure from the European Commission.
If You Already Hold the Visa or Applied in Time
Existing authorizations were not cancelled. If your Golden Visa was in force before April 3, 2025, your residency remains valid and you can keep renewing it under the original program, provided you still hold the qualifying investment and meet the other ongoing requirements.
Applications filed before the cutoff continue to be processed under the pre-repeal regulations. If your paperwork was submitted on time, it should move forward, though processing may run longer as the administrative unit winds the program down. Approval carries the same residency rights holders had before the law changed.
Renewing an Existing Golden Visa
The renewal rules did not change with the repeal. Initial residency cards issued inside Spain ran for two years; consular visas issued abroad ran for one year. After that first period, renewals grant five additional years at a time, as long as the qualifying investment is still in place.
At renewal you need to show that the investment is intact and that your wider situation still meets the program’s terms. That means updated proof of ownership, active private health insurance from a provider authorized in Spain, and enough personal income or savings to support yourself and any dependents.
Real estate holders submit a fresh certificate from Spain’s Land Registry (the Certificación con información continua de cargas y gravámenes) issued within 90 days, confirming the property is still owned and free of encumbrances. Investors in shares, funds, bonds, or bank deposits provide updated certificates from the relevant financial institution or the Bank of Spain.
One feature of the program is unusual and often misunderstood: there is no minimum physical presence requirement for renewal. You do not need to spend six months a year in Spain. You only need to have visited at least once during the residency period, and there is no set minimum length for that visit. This is a real advantage for renewal, but it is not the same rule that applies later if you want to convert your residency into something permanent.
Keeping the Qualifying Investment
Whatever route you took to qualify, you must maintain the full value of that investment for as long as you hold the visa. Selling the asset, or letting it fall below the threshold, means losing eligibility at the next renewal. The original thresholds were:
- Real estate in Spain worth at least €500,000 per applicant, free of liens, with the first €500,000 coming from the applicant’s own funds without mortgage financing.
- At least €1,000,000 in shares of Spanish companies or in investment funds registered in Spain.
- At least €1,000,000 in deposits at accredited Spanish financial institutions.
- At least €2,000,000 in Spanish sovereign debt.
- A business project deemed to be of general interest based on job creation, socioeconomic impact, or contributions to scientific and technological innovation.
For property investors, the €500,000 figure is the qualifying investment, not the total budget. Acquisition taxes fall on top of it: new-build purchases carry 10% IVA, and resale purchases carry a regional transfer tax (ITP) that runs from 6% to 10%. Those taxes do not count toward the threshold.
Tax Obligations That Come With the Visa
Holding the Golden Visa does not by itself make you a Spanish tax resident. Spending more than 183 days a year in Spain does, and once you cross that line Spain taxes your worldwide income at its progressive rates. Even if you stay under 183 days, owning Spanish property or Spanish investments creates specific reporting and tax exposure worth planning for.
Wealth Tax and the Solidarity Tax
Spain imposes a wealth tax on the net value of assets. For non-residents, only Spanish assets are in scope. The national exemption is €700,000, though autonomous communities can set their own thresholds. A single €500,000 property may sit below the line, but larger portfolios can trigger liability. A wealth tax return must be filed whenever Spanish assets exceed €2,000,000, even if no tax is owed.
On top of that, Spain’s Solidarity Tax on Large Fortunes applies to net wealth above €3,000,000, at rates from 1.7% on wealth between €3 million and €5.35 million up to 3.5% on wealth above €10.7 million. Introduced as a temporary measure in 2022, it has been extended and is widely expected to remain in place through 2026.
Modelo 720 for Overseas Assets
Spanish tax residents who hold assets abroad worth more than €50,000 in any single category, whether bank accounts, investments, or real estate, must file an annual informative declaration called the Modelo 720.1Tax Agency. How to Calculate the Limit That Requires Declaration For bank accounts, the threshold is measured against either the December 31 balance or the last-quarter average, whichever is higher. Penalties for missing this filing have historically been severe.
The Beckham Law
Golden Visa holders who become tax residents may qualify for Spain’s special impatriate regime, commonly called the Beckham Law. Under it, Spanish-sourced income up to €600,000 a year is taxed at a flat 24%, with any excess at 47%. Foreign passive income, meaning dividends, interest, and capital gains earned outside Spain, is taxed at 0% while the regime applies. The benefit runs for six tax years. Not every Golden Visa holder qualifies, so it is worth sorting out with a Spanish tax advisor before you establish residency.
From Golden Visa to Permanent Residency and Citizenship
The Golden Visa is temporary. Permanent residency requires five years of continuous legal residence in Spain, and unlike the visa itself, this stage does require meaningful physical presence. The one-visit-a-year rule that governs Golden Visa renewals will not carry you here.
Spanish citizenship through naturalization takes ten years of continuous legal residence for most nationalities, including U.S. citizens.2Administración.gob.es. Acquiring Nationality by Residency Citizens of Latin American countries, Portugal, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea, and Andorra qualify after two years. The clock only runs during legal, continuous residence in Spain.
There is a catch that surprises many applicants. Spain generally does not permit dual citizenship except with a handful of countries, mostly former Spanish colonies. Under Spanish law, U.S. citizens who naturalize as Spanish are required to renounce their American nationality. Some people navigate this in practice by holding both passports, but the legal requirement is real, and if your long-term goal is a Spanish passport, weigh that trade-off before you build a decade-long plan around it.